


Of a Kitchen Knife, Painkillers, and Purple Ears

by angel_fromthe_darkside



Series: Blood of the Covenant [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Canon Universe, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith can purr, Keith is doing his best and Lance just wants to support him, Keith is flustered(TM), M/M, Pining Lance (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Stressed Keith (Voltron), almost obnoxious amount of italics, but not too much Angst, comatose Shiro (Voltron), if you couldn't tell i cant title one-shots so i apologize, its a great time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-29 12:51:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13927503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_fromthe_darkside/pseuds/angel_fromthe_darkside
Summary: “How does this not bother you…” he murmured. “If you couldn't tell, I’m a bit different.”“No, you’re not. You’re still Keith and we all love you, no matter if you have purple skin or floppy ears. And if anyone disagrees then they can take it up with me and I’ll kick their butt.” Keith snorted.“Even Allura?”“Pfft, I could totally take her.”“Yeah, sure. You just keep telling yourself that.”Lance started scratching behind Keith’s ears again, then moved to his scalp and ran his fingers through Keith’s (surprisingly) soft hair. He only stopped out of shock when a rumbling blossomed from Keith’s chest.“Are - did you just-... are you purring?”





	Of a Kitchen Knife, Painkillers, and Purple Ears

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This was kinda how I predicted the whole Lion Switch thing to go in s3, like forever ago, but alas,,,it did not happen this way. So yea no paladin Allura, just Lance being heckin cool!! Uhhh also Shiro isn't missing just like,, in a coma hahhahadon'tkillme.
> 
> So this was way before I apparently had a drastic style change and I tried finishing out w/ my old style but yea its so bad :') sorry my pala-dudes. Also, I like totally forgot where past-me was taking this because past-me apparently stopped in the middle and never came back, so this is where present-me is taking it now :D

So, their situation at the moment maybe isn't _ideal._ And, as frustrating as it was for any of the paladins to admit, maybe it didn't look like they were going to win this one. But what's the big deal, right? They're only the universe's only hope against an eternity of fear and oppression by the Galra. No pressure, or anything.

Objectively, Keith had to know that they weren't doing so hot. They hadn't even arrived ten minutes ago and already, Voltron was surrounded and quickly becoming overwhelmed, with hundreds more galra fighters adding to the masses by the dobash. Even still, their stand-in leader had them press on. Lance was beginning to forget what they were even here for (which probably was not the best sign considering his... _circumstances_ , but hindsight is 20/20).

Looking back on that specific mission, Lance can now think past a pounding migraine that had, at the time, been ruthlessly trying to consume his attention. Forcing himself to zero in on the battle was not something he'd had the need to do before this whole situation with Shiro and the lions had taken effect. Lance may have the attention span of an ADHD squirrel, but he comes around when it counts. 

He can’t recall the name, but Lance does recollect receiving a distress signal from a planet in a nearby quadrant they had yet to liberate. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, the galra had come at the worst possible time. Not just for Voltron -- who were down one paladin and in the middle of their fourth failed attempt at coming up with a strategy slash game plan to work around the fact -- but also for the small planet that had been attacked. To put it simply, after a large-scale rebellion (relatively, of course, seeing as this was the tiniest planet Voltron had encountered to date) the nation was between managerial positions and incredibly defenseless.

Keith was well aware they themselves were not exactly what you’d call “stable” when it came to the leadership department, and while he was anything but vainglorious about their current fighting ability, he’d sent them in, anyway. That had turned out to be a huge mistake, as it was exactly what Zarkon had wanted and was allegedly betting on.

While the main ship attacked the castle mercilessly, fleet after fleet came pouring from the hangars like a hive of angry wasps, swinging around and heading right for a _very_ unstable Voltron. If one looked hard enough, one might see the lights in Voltron's right foot flickering and engines cutting out every now and then. Their main defense, Voltron’s sword, wasn’t exactly making much of a dent either, seeing as Lance was still a little rocky with Red’s controls.

With Shiro temporarily out of commission, Voltron was not in its prime. Two of the lions had new pilots, and Blue -- well, let’s just say it was a miracle if she was even able to associate with the fight at all while lacking a pilot.

And then there was Keith.

He was having just as much trouble with Black as Lance was with Red, and additionally faced his new position as team leader, along with the stress that role entitled. Lance will admit, at that time, Keith would have been the last paladin he himself would have recommended to lead. It wasn’t anything personal, it was just that Keith still had a bit he needed to work out before being able to properly lead.

His temper, for example. And the guy's marvelous hotheadedness. Keith made snap decisions in his head, any consequences be damned as long as he got the job done. He formulated strategies and plans silently, if at all, and apparently expected his teammates to miraculously know what they were supposed to do; that way, he wouldn’t have to waste his breath and precious time explaining or, _you know_ , communicating with his teammates, who were kind of looking to him to tell them what the hell was happening. And to top it off, all of this was multiplied by five hundred and three percent whenever Keith lost his cool.

But even as Keith forced them into questionable situations and rigorous training schedules, topped off with inconceivable exercises (the purpose of which were left lost on everyone but Keith himself, a fact the remaining three didn’t have the stamina to bring up), Lance couldn’t help the sympathy he felt for the poor guy.

When Lance agreed to pilot the Red Lion in addition to Blue, he had expected more resistance, but it only took a few days of extensive practice and talking things through with him before Lance was finally comfortable and flying almost as well as before (if we're momentarily setting aside the matter of the lion's special abilities). Of course, it was predictably finicky maintaining his connection with Blue at the same time. It was as if he was suddenly a single mom with a part-time job at the waffle house and two toddlers playing tug-of-war for his attention. Every time Blue made an independent movement Lance was having an out-of-body experience that projected him right back to the blue lion's cockpit. More than once, his defenses stalled with Red because he was focusing too hard on controlling Blue, and vice versa. His head was almost always pounding, but he didn’t dare complain or let the team see how hard a time he was having.

However, the Black Lion was constantly on edge knowing that its paladin was hurt, not to mention the fact that Keith was  _definitely_ _not_ Shiro. She took to making it notably self-evident that she was not happy with Keith behind the helm when Shiro was technically back at the castle, and she made it a point to be difficult for him whenever possible, however out of character it seemed to be for her. That, of course, only made Keith even more frustrated with his subpar performance as their leader and inability to adapt as quickly as he’d wanted, which led to him making more desperate decisions too quickly and leading them into increasingly more dangerous situations, and the guy was really kind of a mess right now. But Lance loved that mess, so he was willing to offer support where he could.

Wait-

what.

“Allura!” Keith called over the comms, “There are too many of them. We need to get out of here. Now.” His voice was firm and steady in Lance’s ear, but he could tell it was forced. The other’s sensed it, as well.

“I’m afraid I’m unable to create a wormhole at the moment,” Allura said, a grimace clear in her voice.

Lance leaned forward in his seat, violently pushing the L-word when pertaining to Keith _out_ of his mind and _far, far away_ from Voltron's bond before sticking his face close to the image of the princess displayed over his dash. “ _What?!_ Allura, we're getting _creamed_ out here!”

"Like pie!" Hunk agreed.

“The Castle is taking heavy fire! There is barely enough power to make a small jump, and with a few more hits, it will be impossible to jump at all!”

Keith cursed loudly, and Pidge groaned. “Well, then what do we do?!”

Keith took a deep breath and Lance could just barely hear him muttering, “Patience… yields focus… Patience… Patience…” His grip on the Lion’s controls visibly tightened. “Alright, team! Disband!”

Hunk’s eyes grew to the size of golf balls. “What? Uh, Keith, are you sure? We’re a lot stronger as Voltron…”

“You guys wanted me to be the leader, so just shut up and trust me!” Keith shouted back irritably. Hunk pulled a worried face and tried to shrink into his chair. Unsure, the paladins separated and immediately began fending off more ships individually.

Lance drew in a deep breath to try to relieve the weight settling in his chest and the pounding against his skull, before mulling over how to fix this static-y feeling that had blanketed their bond. Keith was definitely on edge, and it was getting to the others, as well. Lance kept his voice steady and attentive as he asked, “Now what, Keith?” 

“Now, we draw fire away from the castle and take out as many ships as we can. Lance, you use the red and blue lions distract the fleets and move them away from the princess. I’ll do the same with the larger one and hopefully do something about that ion cannon. Pidge, you go with Lance and Hunk’s with me. Allura and Coran, as soon as the Galra are distracted, retreat and open a wormhole. Everyone got it?”

He was met with hesitant nods, but it was as much confidence as his teammates had to offer. Lance bit his lip. “Come on guys, let’s do this!” And without another pause, Lance put Red in a nose dive, Blue zooming in the opposite direction, and Pidge taking the center, each taking out as many ships as they could along the way.

Hunk and Keith made their way over to the bigger ship and got as close as they dared, firing a few quick shots before backing off and swerving out of reach from the larger-than-strictly-necessary ion cannon perched on the starboard side. A second, smaller gun faced the port and was firing relentlessly and without pause at Green.

Keith was able to swivel away as the cannon fired, but Hunk and his Lion narrowly avoided it. “Keith, Yellow just isn’t fast enough for this!”

“She'll have to be,” he replied, words clipped and tense. Black wasn’t exactly as fast as he was used to, either. Hunk gave a small whine but didn’t complain further. "Do you think you can get close enough to ram it?"

"Uh, I can try... I guess." Hunk's face, previously contorted with worry and hesitance, smoothened into a rock-like determination as he felt his lion's bond swell in his mind and body. Gripping the controls, he sent Yellow barrelling toward the large ion cannon, letting out a battle cry as he neared, only to be shot off course by the smaller cannon that had previously been targeting Pidge. Hunk sputtered as his lion spiraled away. Keith cursed again.

Pidge, who had turned to watch when the barrage of fire she'd been dodging stopped and zeroed in on Hunk, spoke up as Hunk regrouped and Keith tried to figure out a new angle. "I could probably do some damage to the ion cannon with Green's vines!" She offered.

"No, follow orders and keep to your post. We need more than just two lions keeping the fighters back."

"But Lance can fend them off fine with Blue and Red's fire and ice-"

"I said _go_ , Pidge!" The green paladin let out an annoyed grunt before obeying, swinging around and continuing to fire at the smaller ships. Keith gave a small sigh, shoulders slumping slightly.

“Uh, Keith?” Lance spoke, glancing at the castle. “Not all the ships followed us. The castle is still taking a beating…”

“Hold on,” Allura cut in. “Maybe Coran and I can use the planet's gravity to get away, like before. But you paladins will need to be right on our tail. We won’t have much time to get through the wormhole once it’s opened.”

“Got it,” said Keith. “Lance, lay down some cover fire so they can get more of a lead. Everyone be ready to retreat on my go.”

“No problem! I got your backs!” Lance had just turned Red around to head for the castle when he heard a shout over the comms. His eyes widened. “Hunk!”

The yellow lion was spinning out of control after taking a blow on the left side, his lion not agile enough to dodge the laser completely. Hunk grunted in pain. “Ah, I… I’m fine,” came his voice, and everyone let out a collective breath. “But my Lion’s down.”

Keith barely held back another guilty sigh. “I got you covered.” He swerved and latched onto the yellow lion, firing protectively when a squadron of ships tried advancing.

“Paladins!” Allura warned.

“Alright,” Keith called. “You two ready?” Lance and Pidge nodded. “Now!” In a split-second, Green, Blue, and Black pulled back and barreled for the castle, which Lance trailed carefully in Red.

Swinging around the nearby planet, they all shot forward and through a wormhole just seconds after it opened. After taking out the few ships that managed to slip through with them, Keith called for the paladins to return to the castle without a word on their performance. They complied.

Allura and Coran were there to greet them when they stumbled through the hangar doors, exhausted and somewhat depressed.

“It was a valiant effort, Paladins,” Allura offered. “All of you did very well.” No one missed how that was mostly directed at Keith, whose head was hung low and fists clenched at his sides. They also didn’t mention the fact that they had left that planet there to be terrorized by the galra.

Lance was just about to say something uplifting, or quite possibly begin working his way through Keith’s thick layer of angst, when Hunk let out a squeak, his body going limp. Lance and Pidge reacted instantly, dropping the helmets in their hands to hold Hunk up. Seeing the smaller Paladin’s frame begin to shake, Keith gracefully swooped in and took Pidge’s place just before her knees buckled.

“Hunk?” Lance’s voice quivered with worry. He tried to meet Keith’s gaze, but the other looked away within ticks, eyes returning to the floor, and hair falling over his face to hide his expression.

“Let’s get him to the infirmary,” Keith muttered.

..~*~..

“He should be fine in a few Vargas,” Coran assured them all, as they gathered around Hunk’s healing pod. “The blast he took must have affected him more than he let on.”

Lance chuckled fondly, mostly to ease the building tension in the room. “Hunk’s always been like that. It took me almost a year to actually get him to _complain_ about something, he’s just so scared of people thinking bad about him. Guess that’s why he didn’t stand up for himself when he said his lion wasn’t fast enough.” Almost imperceptibly, Keith flinched. Lance turned his head and raised a brow. Pidge nudged Keith’s shoulder.

“You alright?”

Keith’s fists wound tighter. “I… I’m going to the training deck.” He turned to leave, then paused and cast an intricate look at Lance; sorrow and guilt swirling in his deep eyes, and Lance could tell he was trying desperately to mask it. “When he wakes up… tell him I’m sorry.” Then he turned to Pidge. When he spoke again, his voice was more defeated than Lance had ever heard it. "And - you, too. I shouldn't have shut you down like that earlier. You could have helped."

Both Pidge Lance went to assure Keith he didn’t need to apologize, but he was already striding toward the door. They all exchanged questioning and unsure glances, knowing that Shiro was normally the one to go after Keith at times like this. Pidge cleared her throat awkwardly and said she’d go check on him, then scurried out the doors, as well.

While Coran continued to fiddle with the controls on Hunk’s pod, Allura came to stand at Lance’s side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as they stared up at Hunk's form through the glass. “He is struggling,” she said.

Lance nodded. It wasn’t hard to miss. “He just needs to get out of his own head. Shiro picked him to lead us for a reason, and I know -- uh, we _all_ know he can. He just needs to convince himself.” He gestured to Hunk's pod. “This wouldn’t have happened if Keith would just _relax_ out there and trust us as much as he trusts his own instincts.”

Allura's hand gingerly squeezed his shoulder. “Perhaps you should tell _him_ that.”

Lance frowned and rubbed and the bridge of his nose, feet shuffling uncomfortably away from her touch. “Pidge’s got it. Besides, he wouldn’t believe me anyway; he hates me. He’d probably just say I’m jealous or trying to pick a fight...” When she didn’t answer, Lance glanced over his shoulder to find an unimpressed look on her face. She raised a brow.

“Really? _That’s_ your excuse?”

Lance sputtered, "Wh-Huh? What do you mean, _excuse_?”

“Okay.” She raised both hands, shrugging. “Whatever you want to believe.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Allura didn’t reply; she just sent him a sly smile and a wink over her shoulder before taking the band out of her silvery hair and heading off to bed. Shaking his head, Lance sat down on the floor in front of Hunk’s pod and crossed his legs, resting his elbows on his knees.

Almost forgetting the older man was still there, Lance startled when Coran cleared his throat. “You know, my boy, it seems to me like you have adopted just as large a role as Keith.”

Lance cocked his head. “Yeah, I guess flying two lions is a little…” Lance hummed as he tried to find the right word. “Uh, _difficult_ ," he decided. "But it really isn’t that big of a deal. It’s not like it’s permanent.”

Coran shook his head, sly -- and yet somewhat proud -- smile creeping up his lips. “While that is quite the feat to be proud of, it is not quite what I meant.” Lance raised a brow and gestured for him to continue. What other use could he possibly be for team Voltron? “Have you not noticed that you are currently the only thing holding you and your teammates together? Always have been.”

Lance scoffed, trying not to grimace when it turned into an ugly snort. “Please. I’m the comic relief, at best.”

Coran tutted and shook his head, mustache bouncing back and forth. “You are essential to the team, my boy. You are the glue that keeps you five -- uh, four -- linked at the ears! Like a pack of-”

“Like a pack of Yelmores, yeah, I know. But how am _I_ the glue?” Lance knew he was being uncharacteristically dry and dismissive, but there was no way anyone else thought that. He sure as heck didn’t think it of himself. "Keith's the one who brought us all together the night we left Earth! He's the most important part of the team right now, not me."

“Why, you have proven it on many occasions! What you call this _comic relief_ is a much-needed morale boost during trying times, and you never fail to deliver. Not only that, you support each and every one of your teammates without hesitation.” Lance hummed again, nose scrunching a bit, deep in thought. “Besides, without you, I’m sure it would be much too...  _quiet_  around here. We wouldn’t be able to think straight! Nothing would get done!”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh (darn it, he snorted again), and a genuine, fond smile broke the out-of-place seriousness of his expression. “Thanks, Coran.”

“Not a problem. Now, off I go. You’ll be here when Hunk comes to, I presume?” Lance nodded. “Make sure he has plenty to drink, and his serving from dinner should be ready to go. Then straight to bed, you hear?”

“Check, and check. 'Night, Coran!”

With all his previous company gone, a somber sort of silence settled in the room. Lance heaved a sigh as he was bombarded with worries for Keith and Shiro and the team. Could they really keep this up much longer?

“It’ll be fine.” He said, the words meant for Hunk, despite feeling like he was trying to convince himself as well. “We’re all going to be fine.”

..~*~..

It felt like forever before the pod finally opened and Hunk stumbled forward. Lance quickly jumped to his feet and offered his suport, gently guiding him to sit. “You good, bud?” Lance asked, sitting next to him.

Hunk nodded, taking a few deep breaths. Voice groggy and tired, he asked, “How long was I in there?”

“Few Vargas. You fainted when we got back to the castle.”

“Right.” Hunk paused, brow furrowing as he remembered the day’s events. “How’s everyone taking the failed mission?”

Lance shrugged. “Mostly fine. I think we’re all feeling guilty for leaving that planet to fend off the galra, but I think we made the right decision retreating. There’s no use in us getting captured over one planet. We can always come back and help them once we’re on our feet again," Lance replied, throwing in a grin to drive the point home.

Hunk nodded, reassuring smile silently promising they would. “Pidge, Allura, and Coran are all probably in bed by now,” Lance continued, moving to stand and lead Hunk to the kitchen.

“... And Keith?”

Lance’s shoulders slumped just the slightest bit. He sighed. “Well, he’s Keith, what do you expect? He’s either exhausting himself on the training deck or beating himself up in his room. Maybe Shiro’s.” Hunk nodded somberly.

“Maybe someone should talk to him?”

Lance shook his head. “Pidge tried earlier. Said it didn’t go well.” Hunk’s face contorted with confusion and Lance frowned. “I guess he blew up on her or something? I don’t know.” He shook his head. “He needs to cool his jets, though. Pidge didn’t do anything to deserve that.”

Hunk nodded once more, looking down at his feet, a contemplative expression in place. “I get it, though. He’s worried about Shiro and stressed out trying to take his place. I imagine it isn’t fun living in that big a shadow.”

“Tell me about it,” Lance muttered under his breath. He shook his head to clear it and straightened up. “Anyway, what’d you need, buddy? Hungry?”

Hunk grinned. “Uh, only always.”

..~*~..

  
“We received a distress signal from a mining planet today. It came during the middle of training.”

“...”

“We still haven’t found a definitive solution to this whole fiasco, and our fighting is even worse than when we first got to planet Arus.”

“...”

“So… You need to wake up, Shiro. You need to take back your position as Black Paladin. I… I can’t do this like you can.”

“...”

“You were wrong about me, you know... I’m horrible at this. Hunk ended up in a healing pod, and it’s _my_ fault. _I_ rushed us into this mission and _I_ gave the _wrong_ orders.”

“...”

“None of this would have _happened_ if you had picked someone else to lead! Why me?! I’m literally the _worst_ possible choice, and everyone else agrees!”

“...”

“ _Augh!_ I can’t take this! Just _wake up!_ Come back, Shiro, please! Tell me what to do! What do I do?! _Please_ , I… I can’t do it… I… please, Shiro, you can't leave again…”

..~*~..

After hearing all of that, Pidge probably should have known that trying to comfort Keith would have the opposite effect. Really, getting yelled at again was a given at that point.

But, hindsight is 20/20, and she’s getting worried about him. 

..~*~..

Lance huffed miserably and dropped his head onto his pulled-up knees. He had gone back to his room after making sure Hunk ate, but his body refused to let him sleep. The headache from earlier made a nasty reappearance in the middle of the night and forced him into the fetal position against the wall. His head pounded almost audibly, and every bone in his body _ached_.

Distantly, Lance wondered if this was how Hunk or Keith felt during an anxiety attack. Lance had born witness to Hunk's panic more than a few times over the years, but recently, the team learned that Keith would also become overwhelmed under certain circumstances and shut down. His attacks had become more frequent in the past few weeks. Lance remembered how scared he was for Keith during those first few days after Shiro has injured, how worried everyone had been. Keith hardly ever spoke, constantly staring off at nothing. And when he did open his mouth, it was to scream at someone -- or just to scream.

Everyone became cautious around him, Allura especially. They had found -- when Lance _accidentally_ provoked him -- that when Keith became agitated to a certain point, an almost animalistic instinct took over. His Galra side. Once, Lance could swear he saw Keith’s teeth sharpen and his skin twinge purple for just a second before he was storming off to the training deck. Allura feared what would happen if the stress became too much and he ended up going full Galra.

After a full week, Shiro was still void of consciousness and they still hadn’t been able to form Voltron. So, Lance had offered to help. Allura had explained that it was possible to pilot two lions at once, but that it shouldn’t be used as a permanent substitute for having all five paladins. She said that if a bond between Lion and paladin was strong, their connection would remain stable enough for communication even if the paladin was not in his or her lion.

“Like, telepathy?” Lance had asked.

“Yes,” she said slowly, trying to put the right words together. “Yes, it is a bit like telepathy -- to an extent, anyway. It’s less hearing the Lion’s voice, and more feeling their presence, wherever the lion may be. But in a sense, you do have to rely on controlling her movements through your bond rather than her controls.” She paused. “Are you sure you're up to the task?” Her eyebrows were pulled together and raised slightly, lips forming a worried frown. But beneath her concern, Lance could see how tired she was, weary of the next unprepared-for attack.

“I’m sure, Princess.”

It took Lance another week for him to strengthen his bond with Blue to the point where he could create the mental link between them, and then the extra few days to get Red to accept him, but he managed to pull it off. However, the ability was not without side effects.

For example, due to the shortage of time, Lance hadn’t completely perfected the skill and didn’t have the best control over it. The connection was jerky at best, like yanking on a badly frayed rope. Lance became timid with it at times, afraid that he would break the bond if the stress became too great. He often lost his hold during battles, and Blue was left pilotless for precious dobashes while he struggled to reinstate their link. And even when he wasn’t flying, he felt the pull on his mind, an excruciating jerk on his skull that kept him up at night and posed a constant threat to his focus during missions.

He had already tried using a healing pod to try to dampen the pain, but it was no good. Plus, Keith just happened to be walking by as he was stepping out and almost pinned him to the wall with all his frantic questions.

“Wha - Lance, you’re _hurt?!_ ”

“Well, not real-”

“Lance, you _idiot_ , you should have said something! As the leader, I need to be aware of everyone’s health! How the heck did you get hurt? Where is it, how bad? It was on that last mission, wasn’t it? I knew I shouldn’t have sent you in there alone! God, what happened? Wait - nevermind, just - did the pod work? Are you alright now? Well? Answer me!”

“If you’d give me the chance to!”

After that, Lance had no choice but to reluctantly admit what was going on to Coran and Allura, who nodded in understanding and gave him these weird pills that tasted somewhat like nunvil, only in powder form. It dulled the pain a bit, but he was on his own during missions, when the aching was always as it's worse. That included now, apparently, as well. Maybe he needed to up his dosage? So far, the pills didn’t seem to have any side effects, so maybe it'll be alright for him to start taking four instead of three.

Lance sighed and slowly unwound himself from his curled up position, limbs tingling unpleasantly at the movement.

His gait was unsteady and stiff as he made his way down the hall, but he ignored it in favor of trying to remember which cabinet Allura had reached for to give him the bottle of pills. Normally, Coran would put them in his food goo during meals so the team wouldn’t get worried; meaning, he really only had that first time to go off of on where they were located. And even then, he wasn’t paying much attention, too focused on how he felt like his head was imploding. Wait - did he even know what they’re called? Crap - he couldn’t read the label, he still hadn't learned Altean! What did the bottle look like again?? Crapcrapcrapcrap _crap_ -

Lance paused in the hallway outside the kitchen. Why was the light on?

He stepped in slowly, wearily peering around the corner in case something had gotten on the ship at their last stop. There _were_ some funky looking creatures on that planet.

Turns out, he was right. But not really.

Because hindsight is 20/20, and Lance didn’t have time to think this through.

The first thing Lance registered was the slumped form of what was obviously a galra on the kitchen floor. The pointed, furry ears and lilac skin color stood out blindingly and Lance’s heart seized. How had they managed to get on the castle-ship?! He felt his ‘fight’ instincts kick in and before he was even aware he’d put his body in motion, Lance lept from behind the corner and grabbed a kitchen knife, yelling as he made an advancement across the tiles.

Then, as he screamed and ran forward, brandishing a curved, silvery Altean knife, Lance recognized the hair. And when the galra startled and lifted its head, Lance saw the eyes, and really, that should have shocked him enough to bring him to a halt. But, hindsight is 20/20. His body kept moving.

Even after he landed a solid nick on the galra’s shoulder, and even after it reached up with one hand to grip his wrist, the other trying to wiggle the weapon free from his fingers, Lance continued to fight against it.

“How did you get on board?! What are you doing here?! I swear to god if you’ve hurt them-”

“Lance! Lance, _stop_ , it’s me!” For a moment, the words almost flitted right past him, but they’d somehow managed to worm their way through his thick skull, and Lance froze as they processed. The galra took Lance's sudden paralysis to his advantage and knocked the knife from his hand, sending it careening away across the kitchen floor. Distantly, Lance felt himself being shoved backward.

The hair, the eyes, the clothes.

Keith.

He'd gone full-galra.

The last things that registered were the tears streaking down over the purple blotches on Keith’s face, and that was really all that mattered.

“L-Lance. . . I-” Keith’s voice was absolutely wrecked; hoarse and scratchy. It sounded like he’d swallowed sandpaper. Probably felt like it, too. He couldn’t even finish his sentence before it cracked and he was sobbing.

That should have done it for Lance. That should have sent him lunging forward and yanking Keith into a tight hug, it should have made him do something. Keith wasn’t supposed to -- it’s _Keith_ , the guy barely even smiled, and now Lance watching in wide-eyed horror and confusion as Keith sobbed into his palms. As disoriented as he was, Lance didn’t miss the sizeable claws he was sporting, either.

“I’m... I’m a monster!” Keith bawled, and that. _That’s_ what snapped Lance out of it.

“What,” Lance began, voice pointed and firm as he slowly crawled forward, “are you _talking_ about.” He stopped a few feet away from Keith, not wanting to make him uncomfortable, and sat back on his heels. “You’re no monster, Keith.”

“You grabbed a kitchen knife the moment you saw me!!” Keith wetly exclaimed.

“I was caught off guard! I didn’t know it was you.”

“Th-That doesn’t change the f-fact... that your first instinct was to stab m-me!”

Lance frowned as Keith broke into more sobs, muttering incoherently about God knew what about his new appearance. Wordlessly, Lance lifted his arms and held them there until Keith was curious enough about the sudden silence to glance up. Lance gave him what he hoped was a concerned, warm grin and tilted his head a bit in question.

Keith hesitated. Of course, he did. For a long moment, Lance thought Keith would ignore his offer and retreat further in on himself. But then the other boy pitched forward and all but threw himself into Lance’s chest, folding his legs up in Lance’s lap and continuing to cry into his shirt.

Lance shushed him gently as he brought his arms around the other boy, one hand rubbing his back and the other carding through his hair. He did his best not to disturb his new ears but ended up accidentally brushing against one. It flicked a once or twice and Keith hiccuped a few breaths from where his face was buried in Lance’s chest.

Lance expected him to get mad, to jerk away and bite out something like, “Don’t touch me.” Either that, or it would just be another painful reminder of what had happened and Keith would go right back to bawling his eyes out. But neither happened.

Lance watched, mesmerized, as Keith’s ears flicked a few more times before perking up in Lance’s direction. He realized belatedly that Keith was listening for him, but Lance was barely even breathing. Then his ears drooped a bit, almost shyly, and Keith nuzzled closer to Lance’s collarbone to get his attention.

“L-Lance, um… c-could you… do that again?” Keith hiccuped, trying to draw in enough air to get the words out. Lance hummed confusedly, not understanding what Keith was requesting of him, exactly. “M-My ear…”

“Yeah?” He still didn’t get it.

Keith huffed and brought his hands up to Lance’s shoulders, momentarily making Lance think he was going to push away, but then his hands trailed down Lance's arms, wrapped around his wrists, and slowly dragged them up to place Lance’s hands just behind his ears.

Lance felt Keith bury his face further into his shirt as he muttered. “Th-there. D-Do it again.” A shuddering breath. “Felt good…”

Oh…

OH.

“Uh…” Experimentally, Lance twitched one of his fingers, brushing against the back of Keith’s ear again, and he felt, more than heard, the sigh escape the other boy’s mouth, warm, shallow breath sliding over Lance’s skin.

Lance, only just now remembering that oxygen was a thing he needed to _survive_ , drew in a slow breath, hoping Keith couldn’t hear his heartbeat currently pounding away in his own ears. It definitely didn’t help his headache at all, and he had a strong urge to try to rub the pain away from his temples, but Lance had bigger things to worry about.

Keith was slowly stiffening against him, and Lance could tell if he didn’t do something Keith would pull away soon. So, he gently began to move his fingers, tenderly sliding them up to the top of Keith’s ears and back down to scratch at the base like he did with his cat back home. Keith let out a high-pitched whine from the back of his throat -- which, surprisingly wasn't embarrassing at all, as he moved closer, hands going around to hug Lance’s waist and Lance felt an ambiguous amount of heat rush to his face.

 _God_ , why was Keith so _cute_ like this?

The kitchen was quiet as Keith began to visibly calm down, the sobs from earlier reduced to the occasional sniffle as Lance continued to scratch his ears.

“So…” Lance started, voice as quiet and gentle as he could manage. “Can I ask what happened…?”

Keith sighed, his grip strengthening and Lance arched his back slightly to avoid the claws through the thin fabric of his shirt. Keith didn’t seem to notice, content with Lance’s shifting closer, if that were even possible.

“I… I was training.” When he paused, Lance prompted him to continue with a little hum, resting his cheek on the top of Keith’s head and changing the pattern his fingers moved with. He felt Keith’s body lose a bit more tension. “Even after Hunk got out of the pod and came to check on me -- even though I should have been checking on him -- and said that it was nothing to worry about… I still felt guilty.”

“Keith-”

“Shush, I’m not done.” Keith shifted, moving to press his face into the crook of Lance’s neck and brought his arms around his shoulders. Then, apparently deciding that keeping his legs folded up like that wasn’t comfortable anymore, he swung one to the other side of Lance’s lap so he was basically straddling him, then pressed forward and brought them impossibly closer and wow, was this position  _way_ more intimate. Lance’s face was burning and he only hoped Keith couldn’t feel the heat rising up his neck. As for Lance’s rapid heartbeat, well, he was a goner.

“I should have listened when Hunk said his lion wasn’t fast enough. I thought we could battle through. It didn’t occur to me that someone would get hurt and… it was my fault. And then I went and yelled at Pidge, too, and...” Lance tried to interrupt again, and Keith effectively made him shut up by yanking a bit on the hair at Lance’s nape. Lance bit his lip. Hard.

“S-So I was training and… I’ll admit, I might have been pushing a bit too hard but I… I was _so mad._ I’m still mad. I’m furious that Shiro’s still not awake, that he insisted _I_ be the leader even though," his voice wavered and became slightly watery again, "even though I’m n-not qualified at all. I'm mad that I don’t know what I’m doing, that I put you guys in danger, that -” Keith stopped. Sat up straight, eyes boring into Lance’s. “That I didn’t realize how much strain the whole team and I have been putting on you.”

“W-Wha-”

“Don’t play coy, Lance. Come on, flying two lions at once?!” It seemed like Keith was about to touch Lance’s face -- maybe cup his cheek or swipe his fingers across Lance’s forehead -- but then he seemed to remember a few things and clenched his hand into a fist, undoubtedly leaving some painful claw marks on his palm, then lowered it back down to Lance’s shoulder. “I… My room is right next to yours, so some nights… I can hear you… and… it must be painful.”

Lance only stared for a few moments before breaking eye contact and looking at the kitchen floor instead. “It’s really not that bad.” Keith didn’t seem convinced. “But, Keith,” Lance forced himself to look up again, “none of this is your fault, okay? You can’t keep beating yourself up over it. I mean - you got so upset, it brought out your galra side!”

This time, Keith looked away, focusing somewhere near the collar of Lance’s shirt. “If I were just a better leader -”

“Keith, you’re a _great_ leader, you just need some more time to get used this new role.”

“Time that we don’t have! Zarkon is-”

“Who cares about that glorified turtle, Keith, this is about _you!_ We’re all worried, man. This isn’t healthy.” Lance reached up and brushed Keith’s bangs back from his face. “You need to take care of yourself, first. Lean on us a little more, okay? The team, we - we’ve got your back. I’ve got your back. Got it?”

A wide-eyed look of wonder crossed Keith’s pretty face and he nodded, slowly, before leaning forward and hugging Lance again. “How does this not bother you…” he murmured. “If you couldn't tell, I’m a bit different.”

“No, you’re not. You’re still Keith and we all love you, no matter if you have purple skin or floppy ears, you hear me? And if anyone disagrees then they can take it up with me, and I’ll kick their butt.” Keith snorted, nose pressed into the side of Lance’s neck, and he seemed to relax again.

“Even Allura?”

“Pfft, I could totally take her.”

“Yeah, sure.” Keith tightened his arms around Lance’s shoulders. Not a trace of malice or even real teasing is his voice as he muttered, “You just keep telling yourself that.”

They stayed like that for a long time. Lance started scratching behind Keith’s ears again, then moved to his scalp and ran his fingers through Keith’s (surprisingly) soft hair. He only stopped out of shock when a rumbling blossomed from Keith’s chest.

“Are - did you just-... are you purring?”

“...”

“...”

Keith shot into a sitting position on Lance’s lap, face mortified and definitely turning a darker shade of maroon. “Wh-What, of course not, why would you think- there’s no way - I - no!”

“Oh my god, you can totally purr!”

“I can _not!”_

“Can so! Awww did you like my hug that much, _kitty?”_ Keith flushed harder and violently pushed at Lance’s chest in an attempt to escape. Like Lance would let him get away that easily.

“L-Lance, let go! You’re the worst!!”

“You looooooove me! You like to huuuuuuuug me! You started puuuuuuuring!” Lance singsonged.

“Sh- _Shut up!!”_

Lance laughed. “Hey, calm down! I thought it was cute.” At that, Keith stilled, wide eyes staring at something over Lance’s shoulder.

“You what.”

“I thought it was _cute_ ,” repeated Lance, grinning like the Cheshire cat. “You’re cute.” Keith looked like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing and eyes practically popping out of his head. But, just like that, Lance returned to being serious. “Keith, promise me not to push yourself like this again. You don’t have to be strong all the time; you can talk to us. You can talk to _me_ , okay?”

Lance waited until Keith nodded before giving him a satisfied smile and began to get up. Hurriedly, Keith scrambled at his shoulders until Lance stopped moving. “Uh. Y-You too. I mean, you’re my right hand and… We’re friends now, right? So. You can talk to me, too.”

Lance almost melted. Before he could think too hard about it, he leaned forward and gave Keith a peck on the tip of his nose. “Will do, Samurai. Now, you’re gonna help me figure out what the heck Altean painkillers look like and then you’re going to bed, you hear me?!?!?” Keith chuckled (it was really more of a giggle but Lance isn’t going to think about that right now so we’re calling it a chuckle), and slowly got to his feet, as well.

“Loud and clear, sharpshooter.”

Lance grabbed his hand and pulled him all the way up, the other boy stumbling a bit into his chest. “I’d follow you anywhere, team leader,” he whispered, voice low, and smirked when Keith’s face went aflame once more. “Now! Painkillers!” Lance turned to the cabinets, seeing Keith roll his eyes but completely missing the fond look the boy had given the back of his head. Oh, the things he didn’t know.

**Author's Note:**

> :DDD
> 
> Lance totally isn't singing that "You loooooooove me, you want to huuuuuuuuug me" part like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uluj31ZWdfA from Miss Congeniality; I don't know what you're talking about.
> 
> I have another one-shot in my drafts that is also cannon universe, so I'll probably just make this a series. Hope you stick around for that, cuz I'm liking it so far! :)))) Y'all better be in the mood for more Keith angst bc whoooo boy... yikes(TM)
> 
> All kudos and comments are suuuper appreciated!! *heart emoji*


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